WBK: Augie Downs Cross Town Rival USF

Six Vikings scored in double figures as seventh-ranked Augustana avenged last season’s loss to the University of Sioux Falls with a 92-64 victory on Saturday evening.  The Vikings remain perfect at 7-0 overall and moved to 3-0 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.  The Cougars fall to 4-3 overall, 1-2 in NSIC action.

Lydia Nelson led all scorers with 16 points on 7-10 shooting and the Vikings shot a spectacular 56.9 percent from the field in the game.  Alex Feeney scored 15 while Emily Schulte and Cami Koehn chipped in with 13 apiece.

The Vikings hit 12 three-point field goals out of 23 attempts good enough for 52.2 percent, falling just short of a record for the program.  Riley Nordgaard dropped 12 points and Shaunteva Ashley notched 10 with the help of 8-10 shooting from the free throw line.

Schulte came close to a triple double, tallying a team-high six rebounds and seven assists.  Ashley dished out eight assists as well and the team racked up 29 assists on 33 field goals made.

Laura Johnson led the Cougars with 15 points and Mikenna Greathouse collected a team-high four rebounds. The Vikings out-rebounded USF 44-22 in the overall lopsided game.

Augustana jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the Cougars from a couple of Alex Feeney buckets and a Lydia Nelson three-pointer.  The Vikings’ lead fluctuated from there reaching six points three times before Sioux Falls fought back.

The Cougars took a brief lead, 23-22, but Shaunteva Ashley sank three free throws and Feeney nailed two jumpers, including a three-point bucket to put the Vikings up six, 30-24.

Riley Nordgaard and Cami Koehn then added two points apiece after USF hit a couple of free throws to give the Vikings the biggest lead of the half at eight, 34-26.

The Vikings forced a Sioux Falls timeout after cranking up the defensive pressure causing a turnover and Nordgaard drilled a corner three to put the Vikings up 12.

Koehn hit her second three of the half and Feeney hit a turnaround jumper as Augustana’s lead eclipsed 20 points and they led USF 47-26.  A Cougar basket and free throw cut the lead to 47-29 as the first half came to a close and Augustana ended on a 25-6 run over the last 8:14.

Feeney led all scorers at the half with 13 points on 6-7 shooting and three Vikings grabbed 4 rebounds each as the Vikings held a 24-9 edge on the glass.  Augustana’s bench, led by Nordgaard’s nine points and Koehn’s eight, outscored USF’s reserves 20-7.

The Vikings hit six three-pointers at a 50 percent clip and shot 57.1 from the field (16-28) despite being outscored in the paint 16-14 by the Cougars.  USF was led by Johnson’s 10 points at the end of the first half.

Nelson dropped eight points as part of a 16-0 run to open the second half and the Vikings took a 63-29 lead before Jaicee Ulmer hit the second of two free throws.  Ulmer’s charity stripe bucket broke a 5:59 scoring drought for the Cougars.

The highlight of the run was a steal by Schulte who set up Ashley on the two-on-one fast break with a crafty behind-the-back bounce pass and Ashley laid it in for two.

The Vikings and Cougars traded baskets for several minutes, but Augustana stayed hot from behind the arc with Nelson hitting her second three to put the Vikings up 82-43.

In the last 16 minutes of the game, the Cougars never got closer than 28 points as the Vikings finished off USF 92-64.

Augustana heads out on their first NSIC road trip of the year to Winona State on Dec. 14, and Upper Iowa on Dec. 15.


Courtesy: Eric Zahn, Assistant Sports Information Director, Augustana College